Automatic closet light fixture



March 2, 1954 M. B. BELINE AUTOMATIC CLOSET-LIGHT FIXTURE Filed Jan. 6,1950 INVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 444, T/A/ .5. 55am:

Patented Mar. 2, 1954 2,6 7 1, 1 62 AUTOMA'I IC CLOSET LIGHT FIXTURE,rMartin. B. Beline,..Chevy Chase, .Mcl., assignordto.SlateriAPplianc-es, 1:1

.porationof N ew. York Application il'anuary 6, 1950; Serial No."137,189

.1 2. Claims.

This invention relates r to av lighting fixture for closets -.-which is:automatically operablemy h op n nd o ing: ofvv the. closet door.

It istheobject of the present invention" toprovide a. compact and"simple. electric light; fixture .for: mounting in the cornerof: theframe ofta closet-door soithat the same may. illuminate the clo etupoIr-the-opening of theidoor; and will. be automaticallyextinguishedoupon the. closing. of he door.

1 It isanother; objectof the-present invention to provide a-rugeed andeconomical lighting fix, titre-which. isxseli-contained by the provisionof ayli htrsocketr switchand. extension cord with attachment. plug"aspart thereof; and which may hetumversally mounted -in=.all types of:closets in orderto convenientlyprovideifor theillumination0f;1;a;..clQset' in:responsesstoalthexopening of the closetdoor. Theunit is. capable of ,rapidginstah lationziby virtue ofitsself-positioning characteristics; and requires, no tools QrWiringconnections, soiithatanyone may install; the same" Without special skillor training.

: zltsisga :further I object .otzthe :inventiorr to provide anautomatically; operating closet fixture of low cost. which isnoiselessiin operation. and whioh requiresno critical maintenance:on-servicins.

i'itriszaz'ifurtheit object of the' inventiomto' providea'. compact:lighting: fixture for illuminating (i thezinterior; of; a closet; whichmaybe easily: at! tached to and removed from the closet'doorrfrarne andWhlchzmayabezconnected to ithemost accessiblerpower-outlet vreceptacle.to' provide illuminationf :for'ia; closet lwh'erewsuch. was. lacking.'th-ere tofore. 'In such closets-where means for illuminattiurrhasaalready been provided, theiinstanti in? yention may beinstalled:to.pro.vide an automatic control" of: the closet illumination by theutilizae tion of the outlet receptacle in the closet. with L the unituinaccordance with ithepresent, invention.

.wlteis a; further obi ectsof theinvention. to :pro-

vide an "electriczfixture for a oloset'whichis compact andneat:in;appearancetwhich.is substane tially inconspicuous anduone*WhiChLafiD QS i eflicient illumination of the closetwithminimum powerconsumption. :aThemounting; of the; unit adjacen to the hin eside of thedoor: afiordsrsubstantiallyrrno obstaclerini the framez-openlnazin thecourse; of handling; articles zwhiclrare: placed into and taken from thecloset.

' The .inventionaprooeeds.uponxthe principle of providing acompact'housing; preferably stamped from sheet-rnetalphaving at leastone rectangular .44 corner. formed ibytwo. of its lateral walls-whichrenders ;.it accurately; positionable within the corner ofra closetidoor frameiopening against the horizonal, and 'vertical memhers oflthedoor stop, Flan es extending transversely to the lateral walls of thehousing assure an accurate positioning of the' housing within the corneradjacent to the-hinge side ogf;,.-the door, and .the unit may beeasilyafiixed to the horizontaland verticaltmembers of the doorstepbythIImbtasks which extend through openihgsrinthelatera1 Walls andpenetrate into the faces of the re! spective members of-the. door-stop.Ih,e house ing; is, provided Withza normally elosedmswiteh pr trudinfrom. the-front.- fa e ther of and n electric lamp socket and extensioncordterminating in an attachment :plug extending: from. the rear facethereof. :The mounting of-qthe unitrin the, upper cornerof the;firameaadl'acent toi-the hinge sideof theidoor'assures positive operation of the; switch by the openine and l in of the door which isnotaflected-by awarpedcom dition of :theadooror the framed! by faultyand uncertainclosing and" opening operations of the door..Theelectric,lamp,v which is adaptedto be mounted in the socket; becauseofits location, provides the most eflicient illumination: .ofthecontents. ofqthe closet. Theqpower supply-cone ductorsextendingrfromtherhousing and rmina ing in any suitableattachment plumayrbeied tothe exterior of the closet to the: most accessibleoutlet'rreceptacle or else to the .electriczvoutlet Which-=inay1, havebeen providedalready in the closet.

1 Other objects-and purposes. will appear from the detailed descriptionof thein-vention follow-- ing hereinafter, taken-in conjunction with theaccompanying drawin siwherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of thelighting fixe ture mountedsin the corner-of aclosetdoor frame openingfor operation;

.Figj 2; is a'perspective view; of a room having the closet. providedwith the, lighting; fiXtLlIfiiliDalflQ- cordance with; the; invention;and: showin the connection thereof to. a? power: outlet" receptacle inproximity togthe closet;

Fig.3 isa-xfront-elevation'zof the lighting-fix ture as viewed fromtheoutside of the closet;

Fig. 4 is a rearview of Fig. 3;

"Fig. 51s a vertical sectional view .along' line 5--5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionalview along-line 6-6 of'Fig.:3; and

-'F'ig.-'7 is a vertical sectionalviewalong line 1 -10:? Fig. 3.

In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown a conventional closet door frame F having thecloset door D hinged along the right side thereof by means of hinges Hand provided with a door stop S running along the lateral and top sidesof the closet. The door stop S comprises the horizontal member havingthe face I and edge 3 and the vertical member having the face 2 and edge4. The lighting fixture in accordance with the present invention ismounted preferably in the corner of the horizontal and vertical membersof the door stop adjacent to the hinged side of the door D. This fixtureconsists essentially of a housing 5 which is formed of sheet metal ofsuch thickness that the interposition of the flanges l5 and [6 of thehousing unit between the door stop and the door in nowise affects theclosing of the door adjacent to the door stop S.

The housing may be formed of rectangular outline from a central portion9 (Fig. 4), provided with two apertures therein for purposes explainedhereinafter, from which is bent lateral walls In and H at right anglesto each other, as well as lateral walls 12 and I3 opposite walls i andII, respectively. The walls In and II in addition to forming the wallsof the housing are extended further to form fastening portions Ill andH, respectively, which are adapted to fit closely against the faces 2and l of the door stop S. A small opening I8 is provided in extensionIII and another opening I! is provided in extension ll into which areadapted to be inserted thumb tacks 1 which penetrat into the horizontaland vertical members to constitute the sole fastening means of thehousing unit in place. A transverse flange l5 extends transverse- 1yfrom the lateral wall I|-I l and another flange l6 extends transverselyfrom the lateral wall Ill-40', these flanges being'adapted to abutclosely against edges 3 and 4 of the door stop to provide for theaccurate placement of the housing within the corner of the door frame.

A detachable cover IQ of sheet metal is provided for the front face ofthe housing which is adapted to be resiliently sprung onto the housingby the provision of punched projections Illa (Fig. 7), which are adaptedto be received between tongues pressed inwardly from the lateral wallsof the housing near the free edges thereof remote from wall 9, and thehousing walls. As shown in detail in Fig. 7, tongue l3a is punchedinwardly from the wall 13 leaving the opening l3b in the plane of thewall into which opening is adapted to spring the tongue [9a of thlateral flange of the cover l9. Similar tongues and openings areprovided in each of the other lateral walls Ill, H and 12 whichcooperate with the spring tongues Illa, as shown in Fig. 3, to main tainthe cover l9 securely in place.

The cover l9 serves to mount the socket 211 and the switch 30 within thehousing. A screw or rivet 21 having its head countersunk in the outerface of cover [9 serves to fasten the socket 20 within the housing,which socket protrudes slightly from the rear face of the housingthrough the larger one of the openings provided in wall 9. The secondopening in wall 9 is lined with a grommet 25 of rubber or the like,through which extends the wires 23 and 24 into the housing from a cordwhich terminates in an attachment plug which is adapted to be connectedto an outlet receptacle.

The switch housing 30 within the housing 5 is also held by the cover I9.An insulating button 3| forming part of the switch 30, extends throughthe cover [9 and is adapted to be moved inwardly upon the closing of thedoor against the force of the spiral spring 35 within the cylindricalcasing 30. In the illustrated embodiment of the normally closed switch,the circuit through the switch is completed between the spring arms 34when the door is opened by the interposition of a conductive segment 33mounted on the end of an insulating bar 32 when the switch button 31 isin freely protruding position in consequence of the force exertedthereagainst by spring 35. Upon the inner movement of the button 3|, theconductive segment 33 passes from between the ends of the spring fingers34 (Fig. 6) so that the circuit between these fingers is now broken bythe insulating bar 32.

Only the button 3| protrudes beyond the plane of the housing and itscover so that faulty operation of the switch or marring of the door isexcluded. The thickness of the flanges l5 and I8 is so slight that theinterposition of them between the door-stop and the door is well withinthe permissible tolerances allowed carpenters in the fitting of doorswithin door frames.

The socket 20 is a conventional one embodying the central terminal 2| inconjunction with the screw terminal 22 which are connected in circuitwith the switch by means of conductor 23 and 24 within the housing. Theslight extension of the socket 2U beyond the rear wall of the housinggives rise to a unit having a small moment of inertia so that even withthe lamp L disposed in the socket, no substantial forces arise whichtend to dislodge the housing from the corner of the frame. The closingof the door against flanges l5 and 16 serves to maintain the unitsecurely within the corner and in view of the disposition of the switchbutton 3| along the inner part of the unit, the moments which may beactually transmitted thereby to the housing are of small degree, andthese are effectively counterbalanced by the spring 35 within the switchhousing 30.

The housing in accordance with the present invention is capable ofuniversal application to closet doors of all types. In those cases wherethe door is hinged on the left side rather than on the right side, thehousing unit is turned in order to bring the flange IS inhorizontal'position and the flange ii in vertical position. 0! course,the device is operable on either alternating or direct current.

The length or the electric cord 23 and 24, for example, flfteen'feet, isadequate to be led along the side of the closet to the exterior thereofalong the baseboard for connection to the nearest outlet receptacle R(Fig. 2). In those cases where an electric outlet is already provided inthe closet. a shorter length of wire may be used for connection to theoutlet.

The provision of the lamp at the 'top of the door frame provides a moreefficient illumination than an electric lamp mounted in the top of thecloset where much of the light is cut off by one or more shelvesprovided in the closet.

The housing described above lends itself to attachment andconnectionbymeans of thumb tacks in thirty seconds. In those cases where the closetframework is formed of metal, metallic fasteners may be used in lieu ofthumb-tacks without sacrificing the many advantages of the invention. f

The unit is easily detachable from the closet door frame in order toenable a party who has installed the same but temporarily to remove it 5for installation in another closet, thus giving rise to an installationwhich is much more economical than one entailing complex wiring of thecloset for illumination.

While I have described my invention as einbodied in specific form and asoperating in a specific manner for purpose of illustration, it should beunderstood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since variousmodifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which isset forth in the an nexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a closetlight fixture formounting on the door-stop in the upper corner of a closet door frameopening adjacent to the hinge side of the door, said fixture comprisinga housing and mounting flanges attached thereto consisting of twosheet-metal lateral walls perpendicular to each other adapted to fitwithin the corner of the door-stop defined by the horizontal andvertical members thereof and terminating in fastening portions beyondthe boundaries of said housing for afixing the ends of said walls to thecorresponding faces of said door-stop, each of said fastening portionshaving a small opening therein for the reception of a pointed fastenerfor penetration into the respective faces of the door-stop, positioningflanges extending perpendicularly to said lateral walls and adapted tobe disposed closely adiacent to the horizontal and vertical edges of thedoor-stop and between said edges and the door in its closed position, areciprocating switch within said housing protruding from the frontthereof and controllable by the opening or the door to complete acircuit therethrough, a lamp socket in said housing facing the rearthereof for receiving an electric lamp therein, and electric conductorsterminating in an attachment plug connected to said switch and socketand extending from said housing for connection to a source of powersupply for the automatic energization of the electric lamp in responseto the opening of the closet door.

2. A closet-light fixture comprising a switch housing, mounting flangesattached thereto con-- sisting of two sheet-metal lateral wallsperpendicular to each other adapted to fit within the corner of a doorstop and terminating in fasten ing portions beyond the boundaries ofsaid housing, positioning flanges extending transversely to said wallsat right angles to each other in a common plane, and a normally closedelectric switch mounted in said housing and provided with an actuatingmember protruding from one side or said housing beyond said commonplane.

MARTIN B. BELINE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,236,248 Atkinson Aug. 7, 1917 1,533,209 Radu Apr. 14, 19251,673,647 Strang June 12, 1928 1,678,375 Berssenbrugge July 24, 19281,853,203 Cluny Apr. 12, 1932 2,020,733 Moehler Nov. 12, 1935 2,052,654Ponath Sept. 1, 1936 2,144,745 Soreng Jan. 24, 1939 2,172,523 SorengSept. 12, 1939

